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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.9 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 68 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by GrapeScott on 3/25/2023 & rated 91 points: Really solid Sonoma cabernet, a bit rustic and slightly unpolished, but in a good way. Leaning toward the red fruit end of the spectrum, with bing cherry, ripe strawberry, cranberry and red plum notes, with a chewy and slightly leathery finish. Drank over 3 evenings and it kept getting better. A steal at $30. (932 views) | | | Tasted by Twopawsup on 12/31/2022 & rated 93 points: Deep ruby color with slow legs. Cassis, new oak coffee and blackberry on the nose. Plum, tea and black cherry vanilla on the palate. Long leathery finish. (637 views) | | | Tasted by sstoloff on 11/6/2022 & rated 93 points: This has come around beautifully: cola, camphor, mint, lead pencil, cassis; black fruits on the palate. Alcohol a bit noticeable. Excellent juice (694 views) | | | Tasted by Big Ted Red on 1/7/2022 & rated 94 points: Lead pencil snd blackberry. Rich but not unctuous. Tannins are full bug balanced with fruit. Ready now but will remain st peak for a few years (1521 views) | | | Tasted by markcic on 9/10/2021 & rated 91 points: Similar to the bottle I had in the beginning of the summer. Dark fruit on the nose, the palate is blueberry, blackberry, tobacco, a little oak and some dried thyme. The finish was moderate to long. (1649 views) | | | Tasted by markcic on 6/1/2021 & rated 91 points: It has been 4 years since I last tried a bottle. The cork broke upon extraction so I decanted through a vinturi and let sit for two hours.. Dark fruit on the nose, the palate is blueberry, blackberry, tobacco, a little oak and some dried thyme. The finish was moderate to long. served with simple grilled steak. (1616 views) | | | Tasted by mdanyc on 4/14/2021 & rated 90 points: Opened about three hours before drinking, ripe and ready to go. Excellent with steak, didn’t taste like almost 15% alcohol. Very nice for the price. (1471 views) | | | Tasted by pinoteer on 9/17/2020 & rated 92 points: So-o-o good after 1.5 hrs. in the decanter. Started with lots of green pepper and sage and then evolved into a luscious fruit concoction, but never over the top. At least as good as the other 5 bottles I've had. 92-93. (1846 views) | | | Tasted by Leomania on 5/22/2020 & rated 93 points: There was no hurry to drink this last bottle, but damn it's so very well made, I couldn't resist. Consistent with previous. (1330 views) | | | Tasted by CDing21 on 4/16/2020 & rated 92 points: Now this my friend is a killer Cab! Nice lush berry taste that doesn't disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. (1200 views) | | | Tasted by jgreco on 3/26/2020 & rated 93 points: The 2009 Agharta is pure Sonoma mountain Cabernet Sauvignon goodness. Black fruit, no. 2 lead pencil, green peppers, grilled herbs, and black pepper create an intoxicating mix. Medium bodied, mild oak, and a super dry finish. You can drink now with a decant, but this has plenty of life left. Bravo to Pax for making this. (1239 views) | | | Tasted by pinoteer on 1/27/2020 & rated 92 points: Decanted for 3 hours. Still drinking very well with no drop off. Luscious CA fruit with fennel and green pepper. Nice acidity and tannins to hold it all together. (1231 views) | | | Tasted by Leomania on 1/11/2020 & rated 92 points: See jgreco's note, spot on. (861 views) | | | Tasted by JonnyG on 12/24/2019 & rated 92 points: A beautiful Cab., with notes of savory plum and cassis, complemented by herbs and fennel. Rich and balanced. Does dry out a touch on the lengthy finish. I would imagine this has another 5+ years left in the tank. (1108 views) | | | Tasted by nectar14 on 8/28/2019 & rated 87 points: Nice enough. Good dark berry flavors and a decent texture, though the finish was hot and the acidity a bit lacking to be great. Drink over next couple years. (1415 views) | | | Tasted by cruzio32 on 2/4/2019 & rated 92 points: tasty but fades quickly (1858 views) | | | Tasted by WineCPA on 1/31/2019 & rated 94 points: Consistent with my prior note. Still going strong. Ole ty of fruit. Integrated tannins and no sediment. Long fruity finish showing black and red mountain fruit. Drink now. Don't see this getting better but not past its prime. (1568 views) | | | Tasted by pinoteer on 1/16/2019 & rated 92 points: Given the several reviews here about the wine's imminent demise (or at least decline), I opened one of my remaining 4 bottles last night. After all, nine years on a Somona Cab shouldn't spell doom. I put the wine back in the bottle (and left it uncorked on the counter) after a one-hour decant based on one of the reviews that claimed it faded after 3 decanter hours. Yes, there was not much in the way of flavors and zing during the first hour or two, but later in the evening it had really come around. That later-evening experience reminded me why I gave it 93 last year at this time when I drank my first of 6 bottles.
So, I'm not sure where the discrepancy arises here between my experience and other reviews. Like many wines that slumber for a long period, it can take quite a few hours of air to open them up. As with my previous review (one year ago), I don't think that this will get any better, but neither do I experience the precipitous decline noted by others. This is still in the 92-93 range IMHO, and probably good for another 3-5 years at least. (1551 views) | | | Tasted by BRY on 1/1/2019 & rated 87 points: Wonderful nose. Not much body or fruit left, so has a pretty flat and short finish. Still enjoyed it, but wouldn’t sit on it too much longer. (1445 views) | | | Tasted by doctorj1 on 12/26/2018 & rated 88 points: Don't get all the high scores for this wine. Came across as disjointed and sharp and out of balance. Guests didn't even finish this one. (1282 views) | | | Tasted by kueglerwines on 11/18/2018 & rated 88 points: The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like blackberry, cranberry and plum. It tastes like toast, blackberry and raisin. The body is medium. The wine has linear texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has medium acidity. (1421 views) | | | Tasted by wiscgrad on 10/6/2018 & rated 93 points: decanted for 1 hour and then drank over the next 2. lost some fruit towards the end, so I wouldn't decant. intoxicating nose. great balance at the beginning. fantastic new world cab (1483 views) | | | Tasted by wiscgrad on 5/22/2018 & rated 92 points: Delicious new world cab. the oak comes thru a bit, but there is plenty of acidity and other flavors. As noted by others, tannins are fully resolved so not a long term hold (1990 views) | | | Tasted by pinoteer on 1/25/2018 & rated 93 points: No formal notes, but this is very, very nice. Probably in its prime drinking window. Mature tannins, so this will most likely not get any better and should fade sooner rather than later. (2349 views) | | | Tasted by JCGuthrie on 9/5/2017: Consistent notes to last bottle. Very nice (3252 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Sonoma...A Thrill a Minute (Jul 2013)
(Agharta Cabernet Sauvignon Agharta White Label Mountain Terraces Vineyard Sonoma Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, May/June 2012, IWC Issue #162
(Agharta White Label Sonoma Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, The Best of Sonoma (Feb 2012)
(Agharta Agharta White Label North Coast) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Agharta Wines Producer website
Bottled by Pax Mahle Wines.2009 Agharta Wines Cabernet Sauvignon White Label Mountain Terraces VineyardWine Data:
100% Cabernet Sauvignon from <i>Mountain Terraces Vineyard</i>, Sonoma Valley
10% Whole Cluster Fermentation
75 days extended maceration
28 Months in 50% New French Oak (100% Darnajou)
Bottled February 2012
14.7% Alc By Vol
3.77 pH
160 cases Bottled
Released December 15, 2012
Winemaker Notes
Dense, lush and concentrated aromas and flavors of mountain fruit, spice, tiny berries and forest floor. Concentrated and full with the firm flavors of mountain grown Cabernet, this wine is clearly more about the purity of this exceptional site, rather than being a flashy extract and oak bomb. Ready to drink now, the supple mountain tannins will hold up to the most decadent piece of red meat and preserve the freshness of this wine for years to come in your cellar, if you can keep your hands off a few to lay down.Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountySonoma ValleySonoma County, California, is one of the most important winegrowing regions in the whole of the United States. Vines have been planted here since the 1850s and, apart from the inevitable hiatus brought about by Prohibition, the county's relationship with wine has been prolific and unbroken.
Viticulturally speaking, Sonoma County is divided into three distinct sections: Sonoma Valley, Northern Sonoma and Sonoma Coast. Each of these has its own AVA title and encompasses several sub-AVAs within its boundaries. |
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